Case pitting Columbia Gas pipeline against preserved farmland begins
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
A Common Pleas Court held its first hearing on Nov. 17 to decide whether Columbia Gas can put a pipeline through preserved farmland in Union County, Ohio, according to Farm and Dairy.
The land, situated just south of Marysville in Union County, is protected from non-farm development with an agricultural easement that was donated to the Ohio Department of Agriculture in 2003.
Although the land is bound by an agricultural easement held by the ODA, the ODA has not opposed the construction of the natural gas pipeline.
The Ohio Power Siting Board approved the project in August of 2020, but construction can’t proceed until Columbia Gas secures easements for the entire route. So the company has filed appropriation — eminent domain — lawsuits against the owners of the preserved farmland to acquire the easements for its pipeline.
The hearing that began Nov. 17 will allow the court to determine if Columbia Gas has the right to appropriate easements for its pipeline and whether there is a necessity.
Learn more: Farm and Dairy > Hearings begin in case pitting Columbia Gas pipeline vs. preserved farmland
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What is fracking?
Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock.
Is it safe?
What most concerns people about fracturing is ground water contamination. The worry is that fractures underground, caused by the process, will extending upwards and into aquifers, releasing gas and chemicals into the ground water supply. There’s been no confirmed reports of such a thing happening. Though surface spills and drill site blowouts can lead to localized environmental concerns.
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Flammable water is caused by the release of methane gas into a drinking water supply. Methane gas occurs naturally and can be released by any kind of drilling, including water wells. In Pennsylvania officials fined Chesapeake Energy $1 million for contaminating ground water with methane. It was determined that the company had not properly cemented it’s boreholes and gas migrated up the well, between rock and into aquifers.